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Blood like Roses
An Expedition As the last of the Sun's light was swallowed up by the black sky, Soul Society found itself settling into the sombre routine of the night. Doors were closed, windows shut, and the citizenry shuffled their way from the streets to the small comforts of their homes. Lights were set, and torches lit, giving the world new life in the vibrant, small glows across every facet of its vistas. The same was true of the Seireitei, as much of the Gotei returned to their barracks' for the night, leaving only the rare pattering of light patrols to wander the maze-like streets of the Shinigami's headquarters. Though the bulk of the Gotei's forces would find themselves wrapped away in their sheets for the night, those of the 12th Division were not quite so lucky. A stream of bright light buzzed from every window of their barracks, and a bustle of activity could be heard from within. Scientists, engineers and whatever else found themselves running from corner to corner as they got their final affairs in order for another of their Captain's "meetings". She was a relentlessly progressive woman. Not in the sense that she championed a cause of reform, but rather her obsessive pursuit of advancement in the fields of science. Putting the 12th Division in her hands had been a swift and quick means of turning it into an engine, one driven with the purpose of leaving no stone untouched, no avenue unpursued until all possible theory and practice could be put in place. And then improved upon. Under Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the Division became home to many of the Gotei 13's more studious individuals, and under its new Captain, they had been given ample place to put their studies to use. Motivated by looming fear of what might happen to those who disobeyed, of course. This Captain, this woman, was none other than Jaromira Dragan. A slavedriver by all accounts. She stood in front of her desk within a large meeting hall, silently observing as one officer after another peddled their plans or constructs to her, be they contraption or concoction or something else. She spoke little, calling only the names of the next presenter and passed no immediate judgement on the individuals or their work as they shuffled through. Finally, after a demonstration of "the weapon to surpass Zanpakutō", Jaromira called for the next person to grace the hall. "Yoshida, Akira". The man stepped forward, his face looking as indifferently as usual, with a few, nicely stacked, reports in his hands.Not a strand of hair was out of place as he cleared his throat and smoothed out a few wrinkles on his otherwise pristine robes. “It would seem that levels of yōki ''has risen considerably in several of the sectors closest to the portals we have set up between the Soul Society and the Demon Realm. I had our current teams send out drones to investigate, however, none came further than a few hundred meters beyond the tree line before they were destroyed. I have reason to believe that this may just be something as small as a few resistance fighters testing us for weaknesses. They have been known to circle our perimeters, but never before have they dared to directly attack us,” Akira spoke as he shifted from one foot to the other before stepping forward to hand his Captain the reports, “Captain, your thoughts on the matter? I can have the perimeter guards out within the hour in order to secure the teams currently stationed out there.” "The Demon Realm, hm?", Jaromira drew up from her seat, turning away to look out the solitary window behind her. Her arms had been folded and it quickly became evident that she was considering something. She knew relatively little about the home of the "Demons", in fact its existence was one of the reasons she had scouted out her current Third Seat Officer. "An hour is much too long a turn over, no, I think we'll do things differently", her voice turned imperial, demanding almost. "An expedition, a team will venture through these portals and ordain what is going on first hand". "Volunteers?", she asked in the same tone to the room still bristling with Shinigami. Not a one raised their hand, of course Jaromira had expected such. "Look, Yoshida, we have a full house", she was eager to twist their apprehension as if it was compliance. There was no saying no when it came to this particular red-head. "Let's thin the herd, a little. Yoshida, I leave choosing our members to you". An awkward cough sounded somewhere in the back of the room, echoing slightly as the Third Seat looked out over the crowd of Shinigami. "Come on now," Akira said as he let out an exasperated sigh, "Show some solidarity for your fellow members before this turns into a mandatory exercise." Even so, everyone had a somewhat fearsome expression on their faces. The Demon Realm was a variable in every manner of speaking with creatures so utterly foreign to the ''Shinigami as they could possibly be. Creatures said to be almost as powerful as some of the leaders of the Gotei 13, or at least that was what those who had been there whispered in the barracks, stalked the lands in raiding parties or in small groups capable of sabotaging almost every manner of offense that the Shinigami had taken to use against them. The realm itself was almost as dangerous as those who inhabited the place with twists and turns at the most random of moments with everything from toxic fumes in the air to humongous, carnivorous plants ready to eat anything that came too close. In short, unless one stayed within the few safe zones that the Shinigami ''had set up through many struggles with the natives, the place was a living, breathing death trap. "Right, this is getting us nowhere," Akira grumbled before pointing at some of the Division members standing up front. "You there, make preparations for immediate departure. We will begin the expedition within the hour, if not before." ---- The sound of crickets could be heard as the sun set over the Demon Realm, the atmosphere going from sweltering hot to humid and cold in a matter of seconds. Nocturnal predators crept out from their hiding spots, eyes glowing as the last light was swept away by the night and the stars began dotting the heavens. However, a single spot deep within the forest continued to be bathed in light, artificial though it may be, and it was attracting attention from the other inhabitants of the Demon Realm. All around the poorly fenced off area, where ''shinigami patrolled for the night, the native inhabitants kept a careful eye on their unwanted visitors. The strange beings within the fence were wise to remain inside their little safe haven for the night, for those who were not familiar with the layout of the forested and mountainous regions of the Demon Realm were sure to succumb to death. The only ones to leave the security of the fence were the perimeter guards, and even those never strayed too far away from the circle of light that stretched out a few meters from the fence. However, the natives of this land were patient; they would wait as long as was needed for the shinigami ''to leave their little cage instead of sending out their strange machines. Finally the sound of the gate could be heard and all eyes focused on the three guards, one female and two males, slowly making their way out of their sanctuary to trail around the fence. “They’ve left the compound. Inform the Boss,” a deep voice growled as its owner centered in on one of the foreigners, a male, who kept staring into the darkness in front of him as if he would be able to see what was hidden beneath the foliage of the forest. The man then stepped closer to the only female who had joined them for patrol, one hand on the female’s shoulder when she took a step towards the dense underbrush. ''Clever boy… he knows we’re out here… Another set of eyes blinked twice before scurrying off back to the observers’ own base of operations where their leader awaited. “How much longer should we wait?” “We wait for the Boss to arrive here. She said she wanted to see the fear in their eyes herself when we sent them a greeting.” “Fine…” ---- Not far away sat a hooded figure, feet dangling over the edge of a cliff and a wakizashi not far out of reach. A set of crimson eyes looked lazily at the clearing below, hooded from boredom as they trailed the shinigami milling around down there, before their owner let out a bored yawn and stretched out. “Ah, shinigami… always scurrying around like headless chickens the moment something goes wrong and they can’t explain it. We ought to do this to them more often! “They have to react,” the crimson-eyed woman continued in a low, scratchy voice as she gathered a raggedy shawl around her bony shoulders, “The shinigami cannot afford to let something damage their equipment in an unchartered territory; what if they were directly threatened by something, or someone, that sought to depose them? We can’t have that, now can we?” “Mistress, they have left the perimeter. Your orders?” The woman turned her head slightly, her eyes locking on the scout who had appeared from the woods, “Leave them be for now; they will no doubt attempt to find us out there with the help of whoever the Soul Society sends. I want to be there when we show the Soul Society that their stay is no longer tolerated.” “Of course. I’ll inform the men, Mistress.” “Good,” the woman said, tapping a pointed nail against the soft skin on her cheek, “I’ll be down there shortly.”